Mumbai To Delhi: The 1500 Kms Super Road Trip in Maruti Ertiga CNG


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Hello my friends and fellow travellers!

Hope you all are in great travel spirits. The world is such a lovely place to be in and while traveling it often crosses my mind how people across have the time or the desire to fight and do harm. Travelling and experiencing the world would be such a great alternative.

Now coming back to the travel diaries, we recently did a very interesting and exciting trip yet again by road. This time it was a drive all the way from Mumbai to Delhi and back in our CNG Ertiga of 2 years. Why I mentioned CNG is because we maximized the use of CNG in this route and hope to share information to all on this as well, along with the journey experience. Again, my travelogue would be a mix of narration and videos.

Few essential information before the story begins.

  • Distance from Mumbai to Delhi is 1500 kms approximately (depending on where you stay and where you want to reach).

  • The highway taken is NH8 which is an excellent piece of tarmac to drive on.

  • The route: Mumbai – Vapi – Baroda – exit to Baroda Halol road – Shyamlaji – Udaipur – Ajmer – Jaipur – Gurgaon. No tolls in state highways of Gujrat for private vehicles.

  • CNG: Last CNG pump is in Shyamlaji in Gujarat border. Next CNG pump is in Jaipur Kukas and then Neemrana.
Now a certain relation in Delhi was not keeping well for a while and had requested our seeing her as early as we could. The problem was we had just come back from a trip from Mount Abu and Ambaji and had sort of exhausted my leaves and also to an extent funds for any long trip within a short time.

However as time went by, the condition of the said relation deteriorated and we decided to visit Delhi. Another reason is Delhi is where both of us grew up and have fond memories.

Webisode 1: Off we go
It was a Friday and I had just come back from bondage (read office) and taken off my shoes. Wife asked “so phir kya kare?” Gulping down a glass of water and reaching out to the bowl of snacks I said munching “Kya phir? Chalo!” Wife looked at me with bewildered eyes “Matlab? Tickets?” With another mouthful of snacks, I stretched myself on the sofa and turned on the music “Arre, neeche hawai jahaj khadi hai aur aapko tickets ki padi hai. Private jet you know and we don’t need tickets for it.” Wife knew we were in for a long drive the next day and quickly got to packing and sorting out necessities without uttering anything.

While we do these road trips, we really treat our car as an extended home. We keep a bed with pillows which can be rolled over if we feel like stretching, temporary curtains, food and snacks basket, handy utensils/crockeries, 20lt bisleri, battery operated fans and lights, foldable chairs/table and even a charcoal grill if we feel the need to cook in the outside. Will do a webisode on it shortly. So all packed and loaded in the car we went to bed by 12am.

Early next day we left home and landed on the NH8. Being a Saturday morning, the drive was a breeze. Had got my petrol tanked up and so was CNG at the Kashmira CNG bunk in Mumbai. The journey forth is through the winding but broad NH8 as we cross over to Gujarat.

Click below to view webisode 1 :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGZ30s_FO7g


Webisode 2: The Great Gujarat Roads
The fact that Gujarat is a thriving economy is evident while driving through its highways. The roads are amazing and so is the mood all along. CNG pumps throughout and no tolls in the state highways of Gujarat for private cars makes it a dream drive! A very scenic and beautiful road is the Baroda Halol stretch and the setting sun makes it even more enjoyable.

Click below to view webisode 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Occ1mYDE_BM


Webisode 3: Godhra here we come
At times while traveling by road (most of it rather), things don't go as planned and thus was our halt at Godhra enroute Udaipur. The sun was setting and since I prefer not driving once its dark, the nearest place we could halt was at Godhra. While it is a small city, it has a bustling life. However, lack of good hotels was a situation we faced. Checked out few and we were left disappointed and worried. Infact one hotel had an entire floor which was under construction and had broken see through walls. Finally we managed to figure a decent hotel right near the market.

Pleasantly surprised at seeing a CNG pump here and oh! A nicely done Royal Enfield store (honestly wasn’t expecting here). We drive around in the city to feel the life that goes about everyday here, before proceeding ahead towards Udaipur.

Click below to view webisode 3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nK_MNq3vW4

Webisode 4: Resurgent Rajasthan beckons
What I & my wife ardently love is the story Mother Nature unfolds as we travel. And road travel offers that, more than one can relish. We leave behind vibrant Gujarat and its lovely food to the beckoning resurgent Rajasthan. And I must tell you, the change in the atmosphere is so very evident and marvellous.

The landscape, plantation, roads, climate, people, food, habits, all change seamlessly. And the gradual merging is a spectacle only best experienced while traveling. Join us in our exciting trip as we travel through Rajasthan and move towards Ajmer. Oh I love my India!

Click below to view webisode 4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiwSnD1JyaM


Webisode 5: Mystical Ajmer
We have always wanted to, but could never visit Ajmer Dargah earlier. This time in our roadtrip to Delhi, we could not afford to miss it while in Ajmer. Situated at the top of Taragarh hills in Ajmer is the shrine or dargah built by emperor Humayun in honor of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moin-ud-din Chishti. It is one of the holiest and revered shrines in India. The atmosphere is magical to say the least. The smell of burning incense sticks, flowers, sweets and the holy spiritual atmosphere is indescribable. Join us as we soak in the spiritual bliss of Ajmer Dargah.

Click below to view webisode 5:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRegYgAvWOI


There is a lot left in the journey and will be uploading the sequences and our experiences very shortly. Till then hope you have enjoyed the experience till now.

Take care and happy traveling!
regards,
Nilav




 
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Thread Starter #4
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Hello friends & fellow travelers!

Now Pushkar is just 12 odd km from Ajmer. Being the holy site of Lord Brahma and also the famous Pushkar lake, we simply cannot afford to miss it and hence drive down to Pushkar. The guide we hired gave a very interesting perspective to Pushkar and its creation. It is supposed to be the only place where Lord Brahma has a temple. The market is small but fabulous. The atmosphere is spiritual and holy. We were approached by 'pandits' who offered to do 'pujas' for us at exorbitant rates for our good. Of course we declined gently

Join us as we experience the holy land, Pushkar . Please click on the link below to view the webisode.

Webisode 6 Divine Pushkar
: https://youtu.be/zMSTh5IbIYI
Webisode 6.jpg

Remaining webisodes coming up shortly.
Best regards,
Nilav
 
Thread Starter #5
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Hello friends and fellow travelers,

We return to Ajmer from Pushkar before pushing towards Jaipur. The road to Jaipur from Ajmer is fantastic and we could smell Delhi, not very far away. But we wanted to halt at one more place before we move to our destination and that place was Jaipur.

On top of our mind was the Amber fort in Amer. The grandeur and the old world charm was beckoning and we drive down through the narrow alleys to the fort. The sun was shining so we had a quick bite in the car itself (we picked up food on the way) in the parking lot of the fort. Refreshed, we step out to explore the majestic Amber fort.

Webisode 7: The Amber Fort, Jaipur
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esWtXluu2_I

Best regards,
Nilav
 
Thread Starter #6
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Hello friends & fellow travelers!

Sorry, writing in after a gap. Ok, so after visiting the Amber fort (shown in the previous webisode 7), we plan to zip around the beautiful pink city of Jaipur. The best part is till today I thought Jaipur is called the pink city since its made of certain pink stone. Googled and checked out that the color pink is a symbol of hospitality and the entire city was colored pink to impress Prince Albert during his 1876 tour of India.

The best part of the city is that while it has strongly retained its historical flavour, the modern 21st century side is also strongly seen across as we come across beautiful well laid roads and space age buildings.

Join us as we zip around Jaipur.

Webisode 8: Zipping around in Jaipur https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvTUftrdiUQ
 
Thread Starter #7
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Location
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Hello friends and fellow travelers!

So the journey comes to its last leg and well we drive down towards Delhi. The feeling is indescribable as we inch ahead. Anyone who is born, grown up or lived a major part of life in Delhi and is now living away will understand the excitement that both of us were going through. The familiar sight, smell and feel was definitely the icing on top of this long trip where in we visited so many beautiful places of our dear country.

Join and soak in the excitement of the last leg of the drive to Delhi .

Webisode 9: Oh Delhi!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxNRTSOjlAc
 

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